A serious knee injury will sideline Springbok and Bath flanker Francois Louw for three months.

Louw tore medial ligaments in the defeat to the Sale Sharks on 23 December, and while he is set to be out of action for an extended period, the good news is that he won’t require an operation.

‘We’re looking at three months, so that’s on the serious side, but it won’t need surgery,’ Bath coach Todd Blackadder said.

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